Customer Reviews

How To Change Your Church {without Killing It}

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One of the unchanging aspects of the world in which we live is that change happens, constantly. And if that's confusing thought, so are our daily lives, as we struggle to find constancy in the often chaotic flow of personal and community activity. Thank God for the church, which never changes! Except that, what fails to change, dies. That's what's been happening in my own church, but I didn't understand the processes involved, and was therefore feeling a bit helpless. Fortunately, God is a great big GOD, and answers prayers. Mine was for insight and wisdom, and this book has provided both. When I first read it, the resonance I experienced was astounding. My church, like so many in America, is a bastion of TRUTH, and yet is failing to touch the lives of the unchurched in our community. And lately, it seems that we are losing the battle even with our own church attenders. What I now believe is that we've failed to be relevant to the lives of the people in our community, including those who have been filling our seats on Sundays. This book is a guided study for change in the spiritual community. It provides motivation and method, and maintains a sound scriptural basis for the process. It is not a bandaid, but a complete course of treatment, not covering over fundamental problems, but forcing them into the sometimes harsh light of honest evaluation and remedy. (Warning: Change is painful, but unavoidable. It will happen. Unless embraced and guided in the right direction, change will happen to you, for the worse, instead of happening because of you, for the better.) I recommend this book highly for all those interested in helping their whole church to obey Christ's command to "...Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...". Both your church, and you personally, will experience the sense of fulfillment and joy that comes with following Him.

One of the best nuts and bolts books a pastor could have in their library. The only book I would add to this is Kotter's "Leading Change" before taking my church down the path of change. Do your homework before leading congregational change, it'll save you time, money, and heart ache. Do yourself a favor and read this book. It is currently out of print (also not currently available through willowcreek.com) so keep your eyes open for a reasonably priced copy, or borrow from a friend. While it is probably worth the $90 that it sometimes goes for here on Amazon.com, I'd suggest you find one to borrow before you drop that kind of money. I also hope they reprint this, and make a few updates sometime in the near future.

There are hundreds of church growth books on the market today, scores of seminars on church health, and a variety of growing, thriving churches that provide models to struggling church leaders. All of these resources provide insights as to what the church should be, but fall short of training the leader of an established congregation how to get there without getting fired or destroying the fellowship in the process. This book is one of the few, invaluable roadmaps available.

This title is long overdue -- it addresses how leaders with heads full of new ideas and hearts full of energy can actually bring into reality the things they are envisioning for God's people. This book is not for the church planter, but for the pastor and/or leader of an older, well-established church. The authors present an excellent treatment of how to be a godly change-agent -- it's well worth the price!

Many pastors have sensed a calling to move churches from old ministry paradigms to new forms that will be more effective in the 21st Century. The problem is that such change requires insights and skills that are typically not intuitive and are not taught in most Bible Schools or Seminaries. "How to Change Your Church" is a much needed resource for pastors who are called to be congregational change agents.

The book contains practical and proven strategies for moving a church through a change process. Any pastor on this journey would be wise to glean from the successful and failed efforts of the authors. The bias of the book is toward the "seeker model" but the principles would hold true for those desiring to move a church in any forward direction.

At points the book can lose you in the details but the proven principles and tools of change are worth skimming through the less interesting portions. If you are contemplating being a pastoral "change agent" do yourself and your church a favor by reading and applying the principles and recommendations from "How to Change Your Church."

All references and resources are to nonchristian or non scriptural sources. I keep expecting Willow Creek to throw a Godapaloozafest.